<h2>Name</h2>
<p>
This Surah takes its name, An Nur, from verse 35.
</p>
<h2>Period of Revelation</h2>
<p>
The consensus of opinion is that it was sent down after the Campaign
against Bani al-Mustaliq and this is confirmed by vv. 11-20 that deal
with the incident of the "Slander", which occurred during that
Campaign. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether this
Campaign took place in 5 A. H. before the Battle of the Trench or in 6
A. H. after it. It is important to decide this issue in order to
determine whether this Surah was sent down earlier or Surah Al-
Ahzab(XXXIII), which is the only other Surah containing the
Commandments about the observance of purdah by women. Surah Al-Ahzab was
admittedly sent down on the occasion of the Battle of the Trench. Now
if this Battle occurred earlier, it would mean that the initial
instructions in connection with the Commandments of purdah were sent
down in Surah Al-Ahzab? and they were complemented later by the
Commandments revealed in this Surah. On the other hand, if the Campaign
against Bani al-Mustaliq occurred earlier, the chronological order of
the Commandments would be reversed, and it would become difficult to
understand the legal wisdom and implications of the Commandments of
purdah. 
</p>
<p>
According to Ibn Sa'd, the Campaign against Bani al Mustaliq
took place in Shaban 5 A. H. and the Battle of the Trench in Zil-
Qa'dah the same year. This opinion is based on some traditions from
Hadarat Ayesha about the events connected with the "Slander" in which
she refers to a dispute between Hadrat Sa'd bin 'Ubadah and Sa'd bin
Mu'az. Hadrat Sa'd bin Mu'az, according to authentic traditions, died
during the Campaign against Bani Quraizah, which took place
immediately after the Battle of the Trench. It is, therefore, evident
that he could not be present in 6 A. H. to take part in a dispute
about the "Slander". 
</p>
<p>
On the other hand, Muhammad bin Ishaq says that
the Battle of the Trench took place in Shawwal 5 A. H. and the
Campaign against Bani al-Mustaliq in Sha'ban 6 A. H. This opinion is
supported by many authentic traditions from Hadrat Ayesha and others.
According to these traditions, (1) the Commandments about purdah had
been sent down in Surah Al-Ahzab before the incident of the "Slander",
(2) the Holy Prophet had married Hadrat Zainab in Zil-Qa'dah 5 A. H.
after the Battle of the Trench, (3) Hamnah, sister of Hadrat Zainab,
had taken a leading part in spreading the "Slander", just because
Hadrat Ayesha was a rival of her sister. All this evidence supports
the view of Muhammad bin Ishaq. 
</p>
<p>
Now let us consider the two opinions a
little more closely. The only argument in favor of the first opinion
is the mention of the presence of Hadrat Sa'd bin Mu'az in a dispute
connected with the incident of the "Slander". But this argument is
weakened by some other traditions from Hadrat Ayesha, in which she
mentions Hadrat Usaid bin Hudair instead of Hadrat Sa'd bin Mu'az in
this dispute. It may, therefore, be assumed that there has been some
confusion regarding the two names in reporting the traditions.
Moreover, if we accept the first opinion, just because of the mention
of the name of Hadrat Sa'd bin Mu'az in some traditions, we encounter
other difficulties that cannot be resolved in any way. For, in that
case, we shall have to admit that the revelation of the Commandments
of purdah and the Holy Prophet's marriage with Hadrat Zainab had taken
place even earlier than the Battle of the Trench. But we learn from
the Qur'an and many authentic traditions that both these events
happened after that Battle and the Campaign against Bani Quraizah.
That is why Ibn Hazm, Ibn Qayyim and some other eminent scholars have
held the opinion of Muhammad bin Ishaq as correct, and we also hold it
to be so. Thus, we conclude that Surah Al Ahzab was sent down earlier
than Surah An-Nur, which was revealed in the latter half of 6 A. H.
several months after Surah Al Ahzab.
</p>
<h2>Historical Background</h2>
<p>
Now let us review the circumstances existing at the time of the
revelation of this surah. It should be kept in mind that the incident
of the "Slander", which was the occasion of its revelation, was
closely connected with the conflict between Islam and the disbelievers.
</p>
<p>
After the victory at Badr, the Islamic movement began to gain strength
day by day; so much so that by the time of the Battle of the Trench,
it had become so strong that the united forces of the enemy numbering
about ten thousand failed to crush it and had to raise the siege of Al
Madinah after one month. It meant this, and both the parties
understood it well, that the war of aggression which the Disbelievers
had been waging for several years, had come to an end. The Holy
Prophet himself declared: "After this year, the Quraish will not be
able to attack you; now you will take the offensive." 
</p>
<p>
When the
disbelievers realized that they could not defeat Islam on the
battlefield, they chose the moral front to carry on the conflict. It
cannot be said with certainty whether this Change of tactics was the
outcome of deliberate consultations, or it was the inevitable result
of the humiliating retreat in the Battle of the Trench, for which all
the available forces of the enemy had been concentrated:They knew it
well that the rise of Islam was nor due to the numerical strength of
the Muslims nor to their superior arms and ammunition nor to their
greater material resources; nay, the Muslims were fighting against
fearful odds on all these fronts. They owed their success to their
moral superiority. Their enemies realized that the pure and noble
qualities of the Holy Prophet and his followers were capturing the
hearts of the people, and were also binding them together into a
highly disciplined community. As a result of this, they were defeating
the <em>mushriks</em> and the Jews both on the peace and on the war front,
because the latter lacked discipline and character. 
</p>
<p>
Under the above
mentioned circumstances, the wicked designs of the disbelievers led
them to start a campaign of vilification against the Holy Prophet and
the Muslims in order to destroy the bulwark of morale that was helping
them to defeat their enemies. Therefore the strategy was to attain the
assistance of the hypocrites to spread slanders against the Holy
Prophet and his followers so that the <em>mushriks</em> and the Jews could
exploit these to sow the seeds of discord among the Muslims and
undermine their discipline. 
</p>
<p>
The first opportunity for the use of the
new strategy was afforded in Zil-Qa'dah 5 A. H. when the Holy Prophet
married Hadrat Zainab (daughter of Jahsh), who was the divorced wife
of his adopted son, Zaid bin Harithah. The Holy Prophet had arranged
this marriage in order to put an end to the custom of ignorance, which
gave the same status to the adopted son that was the right only of the
son from one's own loins. The hypocrites, however, considered it a
golden opportunity to vilify the Holy Prophet from inside the
community, and the Jews and the <em>mushriks</em> exploited it from outside to
ruin his high reputation by this malicious slander. For this purpose
fantastic stories were concocted and spread to this effect: "One day
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) happened to see the wife of his
adopted son and fell in love with her; he maneuvered her divorce and
married her." Though this was an absurd fiction it was spread with
such skill, cunning and artfulness that it succeeded in its purpose;
so much so that some Muslim tradtionalist and commentators also have
cited some parts of it in their writings, and the orientalists have
exploited these fully to vilify the Holy Prophet. As a matter of fact,
Hadrat Zainab was never a stranger to the Holy Prophet that he should
see her by chance and fall in love with her at first sight. For she
was his first cousin, being the daughter of his real paternal aunt,
Umaimah, daughter of Abdul Muttalib. He had known her from her
childhood to her youth. A year before this incident, he himself had
persuaded her against her will to marry Hadarat Zaid in order to
demonstrate practically that the Quraish and the liberated slaves were
equal as human being. As she never reconciled herself to her marriage
with a liberated slave, they could not pull on together for long,
which inevitably led to her divorce. The above mentioned facts were
well known to all, yet the slanderers succeeded in their false
propaganda with the result that even today there are people who
exploit these things to defame Islam. 
</p>
<p>
The second slander was made on
the honor of Hadrat Ayesha, a wife of the Holy Prophet, in connection
with an incident which occurred while he was returning from the
Campaign against Bani al-Mustaliq. As this attack was even severer
than the first one and was the main background of this Surah, we shall
deal with it in greater detail. 
</p>
<p>
Let us say a few words about Abdullah
bin Ubayy, who played the part of a villain in this attack. He
belonged to the clan of Khazraj and was one of the most important
chiefs of Al-Madinah. The people had even intended to make him their
king a little before the Holy Prophet's migration there, but the
scheme had to be dropped because of the changed circumstances. Though
he had embraced Islam, he remained at heart a hypocrite and his
hypocrisy was so manifest that he was called the "Chief of the Hypocrites". He never lost any opportunity to slander Islam in order to
take his revenge. 
</p>
<p>
Now the main theme. When in Sha'ban 6 A. H. the Holy
Prophet learned that the people of Bani al-Mustaliq were making
preparations for a war against the Muslims and were trying to muster
other clans also for this purpose, he fore- stalled and took the enemy
by surprise. After capturing the people of the clan and their
belongings, the Holy Prophet made a halt near Muraisi, a spring in
their territory. One day a dispute concerning taking water from the
spring started between a servant of Hadrat Umar and an ally of the clan
of Khazraj, and developed into a quarrel between the
Muhajirs(immigrants) and the Ansar(Muslims of Madinah), but was soon
settled. This, however, did not suit the strategy of Abdullah bin
Ubayy, who also had joined the expedition with a large number of
hypocrites. So he began to incite the Ansar, saying, "You yourselves
brought these people of the quraish from Makkah and made them partners
in your wealth and property. And now they have become your rivals and
want domination over you. If even now you withdraw your support from
them, they shall be forced to leave your city." Then he swore and
declared, "As soon as we reach back Al-Madinah, the respectable people
will turn out the degraded people from the city." 
</p>
<p>
When the Holy
Prophet came to know of this, he ordered the people to set off
immediately and march back to Al-Madinah. The forced march continued
up to noon the next day without a halt on the way so that the people
became exhausted and had no time for idle talk. 
</p>
<p>
Though this wise
judgment and quick action by the Holy Prophet averted the undesirable
consequences of the mischief, Abdullah bin Ubayy got another
opportunity for doing a far more serious and greater mischief, i. e.
by engineering a "Slander" against Hadrat Ayesha, for that was a
mischief which might well have involved the young Muslim Community in
a civil war, if the Holy Prophet and his sincere and devoted followers
had not shown wisdom, forbearance and marvelous discipline in dealing
with it. In order to understand the events that led to the incident of
the "Slander", we cite the story in Hadrat 'Ayesha's own words. She
says :
</p>
<p>
"Whenever the Holy Prophet went out on a journey, he decided by
lots as to which of his wives should accompany him. Accordingly, it
was decided that I should accompany him during the expedition to Bani
al Mustaliq. On the return journey, the Holy Prophet halted for the
night at a place which was the last stage on the way back to Al-
Madinah. It was still night, when they began to make preparations for
the march. So I went outside the camp to ease myself. When I returned
and came near my halting place, I noticed that my necklace had fallen
down somewhere. I went back in search for it but in the meantime the
caravan moved off and I was left behind all alone. The four carriers
of the litter had placed it on my camel without noticing that it was
empty. This happened because of my light weight due to lack of food in
those days. I wrapped myself in my sheet and lay down in the hope that
when it would be found that I had been left behind, a search party
would come back to pick me up. In the meantime I fell asleep. In the
morning, when Safwan bin Mu'attal Sulami passed that way, he saw me
and recognized me for he had seen me several times before the
Commandment about purdah had been sent down. No sooner did he see me
than he stopped his camel and cried out spontaneously : "How sad! The
wife of the Holy Prophet has been left here!" At this I woke up all of
a sudden and covered my face with my sheet. Without uttering another
word, he made his camel kneel by me and stood aside, while I climbed
on to the camel back. He led the camel by the nose-string and we
overtook the caravan at about noon, when it had just halted and nobody
had yet noticed that I had been left behind. I learnt afterwards that
this incident had been used to slander me and Abdullah bin Ubayy was
foremost among the slanderers.(According to other traditions, when
Hadrat Ayesha reached the camp on the camel, led by Safwan, and it was
known that she had been left behind, Abdullah bin Ubayy cried out, 'By
God, she could not have remained chaste. Look, there comes the wife of
your Prophet openly on the camel led by the person with whom she
passed the night.') 
</p>
<p>
"When I reached Al-Madinah, I fell ill and stayed
in bed for more than a month. Though I was quite unaware of it, the
news of the "Slander" was spreading like a scandal in the city, and
had also reached the Holy Prophet. Anyhow, I noticed that he did not
seem as concerned about my illness he used to be. He would come but
without addressing me directly, would inquire from others how I was
and leave the house. Therefore it troubled my mind that something had
gone wrong somewhere. So I took leave of him and went to my mother's
house for better nursing. 
</p>
<p>
"While I was there, one night I went out of
the city to ease myself in the company of Mistah's mother, who was a
first cousin of my mother. As she was walking along she stumbled over
something and cried out spontaneously, 'May Mistah perish!' To this I
retorted, 'What a good mother you are that you curse your own son -- the
son who took part in the Battle of Badr.' She replied, 'My dear
daughter, are you not aware of his scandal mongering?' Then she told
me everything about the campalgn of the "Slander".(Besides the
hypocrites, some true Muslims also had been involved in this campaign,
and among them who took leading part in it, were Mistah, Hassan bin
Thabit, the famous poet of Islam, and Hamnah, daughter of Jahsh and
sister of Hadrat Zainab). Hearing this horrible story, my blood
curdled, and I immediately returned home, and passed the rest of the
night in crying over it. 
</p>
<p>
"During my absence the Holy Prophet took
counsel with Ali and Usamah bin Zaid about this matter. Usamah said
good words about me to this effect:'O Messenger of Allah, we have
found nothing but good in your wife. All that is being spread about
her is a lie and calumny.' As regards Ali, he said, 'O Messenger of
Allah, there is no dearth of women; you may, if you like, marry an
other wife. If, how- ever, you would like to investigate into the
matter, you may send for her maid servant and enquire into it through
her.' Accordingly, the maid servant was sent for and questioned. She
replied, 'I declare on an oath by Allah, Who has sent you with the
Truth, that I have never seen any evil thing in her, except that she
falls asleep when I tell her to look after the kneaded dough in my
absence and a goat comes and eats it.' 
</p>
<p>
"On that same day the Holy
Prophet addressed the people from the pulpit, saying:'O Muslims, who
from among you will defend my honor against the attacker of the
person who has transgressed all bounds in doing harm to me by
slandering my wife. By God, I have made a thorough enquiry and found
nothing wrong with her nor with the man, whose name has been linked
with the "Slander". At this Usaid bin Hudair (or Sa'd bin Mauz)
according to other traditions) stood up and said, 'O Messenger of
Allah, if that person belongs to our clan, we will kill him by
ourselves, but if he belongs to the Khazraj clan, we will kill him if
you order us to do so.' Hearing this Sa'd bin 'Ubadah,2 chief of the
Khazraj clan, stood up and said, 'You lie you can never kill him. You
are saying this just because the person belongs to our clan of Khazraj.
Had he belonged to your clan, you would never have said so.' Hadrat
Usaid retorted, 'You are a hypocrite: that is why you are defending
a hypocrite.' At this, there was a general turmoil in the mosque,
which would have developed into a riot, even though the Holy Prophet
was present there the whole time. But he cooled down their anger and
came down from the pulpit." 
</p>
<p>
The remaining details of the incident will
be cited along with our commentary on the Text, which honorably
absolved Hadrat Aishah from the blame. But here we would only want to
point out the enormity of the mischief that was engineered by Abdullah
bin Ubayy: (1) It implied an attack on the honour of the Holy Prophet
and Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq.(2) He meant to undermine the high moral
superiority which was the greatest asset of the Islamic Movement (3)
He intended to ignite civil war between the Muhajirs and the Ansar, and
between Aus and Khazraj, the two clans of the Ansar. 
</p>
<h2>Theme and Topics</h2>
This Surah and vv. 28-73 of Surah Al-Ahzab(of which this is the sequel)
were sent down to strengthen the moral front, which at that time was
the main target of the attack, vv. 28-73 of Al-Ahzab were sent down
concerning the Holy Prophet's marriage with Hadrat Zainab, and on the
occasion of the second attack (the "Slander" about Hadrat Aishah),
Surah An-Nur was sent down to repair the cracks that had appeared in the
unity of the Muslim Community. If we keep this in view during the
study of the two Surahs, we shall understand the wisdom that underlies
the Commandments about purdah. Allah sent the following instructions
to strengthen and safeguard the moral front, and to counteract the
storm of propaganda that was raised on the occasion of the marriage of
Hazrat Zainab:
</p>
<OL>
<p>
<LI> The wives of the Holy Prophet were enjoined to
remain within their private quarters, to avoid display of adornments
and to be cautious in their talk with other persons (vv. 32, 33). 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The other Muslims were forbidden to enter the private rooms of the
Holy Prophet and instructed to ask whatever they wanted from behind
the curtain.(v. 53). 
</p>
<p>
<LI> A line of demarcation was drawn between the
<em>mahram</em> and the non-<em>mahram</em> relatives. Only the former were allowed to
enter the private rooms of those wives of the Holy Prophet with whom
they were so closely related as to prohibit marriage with them.(v. 55).
</p>
<p>
<LI> The Muslims were told that the wives of the Prophet were
prohibited for them just like their own real mothers; therefore every
Muslim should regard them with the purest of intentions.(vv. 53, 54).
</p>
<p>
<LI> The Muslims were warned that they would invite the curse and
scourge of Allah if they offended the Holy Prophet. Likewise it was a
heinous sin to attack the honor of or slander any Muslim man or
woman.(vv. 57, 58). 
</p>
<p>
<LI> All the Muslim women were enjoined to cover
their faces with their sheets if and when they had to go out of their
houses.(v. 59). 
</p>
</OL>
<p>
On the occasion of the second attack, this Surah was
sent down to keep pure and strengthen the moral fiber of the Muslim
society, which had been shaken by the enormity of the slander. We give
below a summary of the Commandments and instructions in their
chronological order so that one may understand how the Qur'an makes
use of the psychological occasion to reform the Community by the
adoption of legal, moral and social measures. 
</p>
<OL>
<p>
<LI> Fornication which
had already been declared to be a social crime (IV: 15,16) was now
made a criminal offense and was to be punished with a hundred lashes.
</p>
<p>
<LI> It was enjoined to boycott the adulterous men and women and the
Muslims were forbidden to have any marriage relations with them. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The one, who accused the other of adultery but failed to produce four
witnesses, was to be punished with eighty lashes. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The Law of <em>Li'an</em>
was prescribed to decide the charge of adultery against his own fife
by a husband. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The Muslims were enjoined to learn a lesson from the
incident of the "Slander" about Hadrat Aishah, as if to say, "You
should be very cautious in regard to charges of adultery against the
people of good reputation, and should not spread these; nay, you
should refute and suppress them immediately." In this connection, a
general principle was enunciated that the proper spouse for a pure man
is a pure woman, for he cannot pull on with a wicked woman for long,
and the same is the case with a pure woman, as if to say, "When you
knew that the Holy Prophet was a pure man, nay, the purest of all
human beings, how could you believe that he had experienced happiness
with a wicked woman and exalted her as the most beloved of his
wives? For it was obvious that an adulterous woman could not have been
able to deceive, with her affected behavior, a pure man like the Holy
Prophet. You ought also to have considered the fact that the accuser
was a mean person while the accused was a pure woman. This should have
been enough to convince you that the accusation was not worth your
consideration; nay, it was not even conceivable. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Those who spread
news and evil rumours and propagate wickedness in the Muslim Community,
deserve punishment and not encouragement. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> A general principle was
laid down that relations in the Muslim Community should be based on
good faith and not on suspicion: everyone should be treated as
innocent unless he is proved to be guilty and <em>vice versa</em>. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The
people were forbidden to enter the houses of others unceremoniously
and were instructed to take permission for this. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Both men and
women were instructed to lower their gaze and forbidden to cast
glances or make eyes at each other. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Women were enjoined to cover
their heads and breasts even inside their houses. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Women were
forbidden to appear with make-up before other men except their
servants or such relatives with whom their marriage is prohibited.
</p>
<p>
<LI> They were enjoined to hide their make-ups when they went out of
their houses, and even forbidden to put on jingling ornaments, while
they moved out of their houses. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Marriage was encouraged and
enjoined even for slaves and slave girls, for unmarried people help
spread indecency. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The institution of slavery was discouraged and
the owners and other people were enjoined to give financial help to
the slaves to earn their freedom under the law of <em>Mukatabat</em>. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Prostitution by slave girls was forbidden in the first instance, for
prostitution in Arabia was confined to this class alone. This in fact
implied the legal prohibition of prostitution. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Sanctity of
privacy in home life was enjoined even for servants and under age
children including one's own. They were enjoined not to enter the
private rooms of any man or woman without permission; especially in
the morning, at noon and at night. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> Old women were given the
concession that they could set aside their head covers within their
houses but should refrain from display of adornments. Even they were
told that it was better for them to keep themselves covered with head
wrappers. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> The blind, lame, crippled and sick persons were allowed
to take any article of food from the houses of other people without
permission, for it was not to be treated like theft and cheating,
which are cognizable offenses. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> On the other hand, the Muslims
were encouraged to develop mutual relationships by taking their meals
together, and the nearest relatives and intimate friends were allowed
to take their meals in each other's house without any formal
invitation. This was to produce mutual affection and sincere
relationships between them to counteract any future mischief. Side by
side with these instructions, clear signs of the Believers and the
hypocrites were stated to enable every Muslim to discriminate between
the two. At the same time the Community was bound together by adopting
disciplinary measures in order to make it stronger and firmer than it
was at the time so as to discourage the enemies from creating mischief
in it. 
</p>
</OL>
<p>
Above all, the most conspicuous thing about this discourse is
that it is free from the bitterness which inevitably follows such
shameful and absurd attacks. Instead of showing any wrath at this
provocation, the discourse prescribes some laws and regulations and
enjoins reformative commandments and issues wise instructions that
were required at the time for the education and training of the
Community. Incidentally, this teaches us how to deal with such
provocative mischiefs coolly, wisely and generously. At the same time,
it is a clear proof that this is not the word of Prophet Muhammad
(Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) but of a Being Who is
observing all human conditions and affairs from the highest level, and
guiding mankind without any personal prejudices, feelings and leanings.
Had this been the word of the Holy Prophet; there would have been at
least some tinge of natural bitterness in spite of his great
generosity and forbearance, for it is but human that a noble man
naturally become enraged when his own honor is attacked in this mean
manner.
</p>

